Growing up Hammond
by OwenHarpersGirl
Summary: Series of one-shots about Douglas and TJ's lived growing up. Will take place at different ages and times in their lives including before and during their time at the Governor's Mansion and then at the White House. Prompts Welcome.
1. Two Months Old

Growing up Hammond

Two Months Old

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Political Animals**_** nor am I affiliated with them in any way.**

**Note: In this first chapter TJ is called 'Thomas', 'Tommy', and 'TJ' cause I wasn't sure when they would've started calling him that or who would've been the one to call him that first.**

Elaine awoke with a start and lied in the dark for a moment, trying to determine what woke her. Her question was answered when a sharp cry pierced the air from the other side of the room. Elaine glanced over at her husband who continued to snore awake and rolled out of bed. She crossed the room and walked over to one of the cots.

"Shhh, shush now," she said gently, lifting Douglas into her arms. She rocked the two month old gently, smiling as he stopped crying and stared up at her with wide, wet eyes.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" she said quietly and he whimpered slightly. She glanced down into the other cot and was greeted by another pair of wide eyes staring back at her as her other son laid there quietly.

"You're awake too?" she cooed as Thomas waved his arms, "Did your brother wake you?" She sank down into the rocked chair between the two cots. Holding Douglas tightly as he fed, she used her other hand to trace circles on Tommy's stomach to keep him calm.

"You hungry too?" she asked and he gurgled happily. She smiled and looked down at Douglas, lifting him gently so he rested against her shoulder. She began patting his back gently just as Bud sat up in bed.

"Everything alright Sugar?" he asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied, "Douglas was hungry. I just need to change him and then feed Tommy."

"You take care of TJ," Bud said, getting out of bed, "I'll take Dougie." He lifted his son out of her arms and she picked Tommy up out of his basket. Elaine fed and changed him and then sat next to her husband on their bed. Bud was gently rocking Douglas as the child blinked sleepily up at his parents. Elaine looked down at TJ and saw his eyes sliding closed as he turned slightly and snuggled closer to her.

"It's been two months and it's still hard to believe they're real," Elaine said gently.

"You'll still be saying that when they're thirty," Bud said and she smiled.

"Probably," Elaine nodded, "Except then it will probably be because they did something stupid and I can't believe they're related to us." Bud chuckled quietly as they continued to stare down at their two sleeping sons.

"Come on," he said, "We both need to get some sleep and God knows these two'll be up bright and early." They stood and placed the boys in their cots before climbing into their own bed. Bud wrapped his arms around his wide as the pair drifted off to sleep, both wondering what their lives would be like when the boys were thirty.

**Alright, so I had wanted to do something when the boys were really young for a while and this is what happened. I'm going to be doing a series of one shots at various ages and stages in Douglas and TJ's lives.**

**If you have any prompts for things you'd like to see just let me know! Thanks for reading!**


	2. First Steps

First Steps

**Douglas:**

Elaine was sitting on the floor of Douglas and TJ's room of the Governor's Mansion watching as her two sons played. Bud was busy working and she was enjoying spending time with her ten month old twins.

The two boys were crawling around the pile of foam blocks they were playing with. Douglas picked one up and threw it in the air, watching as it bounced away. Douglas stared at it for a moment before looking confused at his mother.

"Now what are you going to do?" Elaine laughed and Douglas made an indignant noise. Elaine laughed again and was about to get up and retrieve the block when something stopped her.

Douglas was sitting up on his hands and knees and began pushing his hands against the ground. Elaine crouched down again and watched as Douglas pushed himself up. He wobbled for a moment before putting one foot ahead.

"Come on sweetheart," Elaine encouraged, watching as the baby took a few more shaky steps before he fell.

"Good boy Dougie!" Elaine cried happily, standing and reaching over to scoop her son into her arms. The little boy clapped delightedly at the attention and Elaine walked over to where TJ was sitting and watching his mother and brother.

"Did you see that Tommy? Your brother walked!" Elaine said and TJ shrieked happily as Elaine lifted him into her arms too.

"Now what is going on in here?" a voice asked behind them and Elaine turned to see Bud standing in the doorway.

"Dougie walked!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he said in shock, walking over to his family.

"Yeah, he just stood and took a few steps! All on his own!" Elaine said happily as Bud lifted Douglas into his arms.

"Did you walk?" he said, "Good boy Dougie!"

"I'll make sure to record it next time if you're not here," Elaine said, "Speaking of, I thought you had a lot of work to do?"

"I did," Bud nodded, "But the benefit of being in the governor's mansion is having an entire group of people who can take care of things for one night. So, barring any major, end of the world things, I am free for the rest of the evening. And right on time too, by the sounds of it." Elaine smiled widely at him and then looked at the boys.

"Well then we should celebrate now that one of them is walking," Elaine said, kissing TJ's cheek. Both boys gurgled happily and Elaine and Bud laughed as they walked out of the room.

**TJ:**

They say when you have twins that when one does something the other will soon follow. However, that was apparently not the case for the Hammond boys. It had been almost two months since Douglas had taken his first steps and he had only been getting better. But TJ had yet to take his first steps.

"Thanks for watching them today," Elaine said breathlessly, setting the boys down on the floor of her mother's house.

"It's not a problem," Margaret said, "The boys and I are going to have a great time, aren't we you two?"

"Alright," Elaine smiled at the boys who were staring up at her, "I should be back by eight, assuming this thing doesn't take all night."

"If you're not here by nine I'll assume it is going to take all night and the boys can just spend the night here," Margaret said, "Now go on. Get going before the boys start to miss you too much." Elaine left and Margaret turned back to her grandsons.

"Now that she's gone, what sort of trouble should we get up to?" she said. Douglas gripped the couch and pulled himself up while TJ just rocked back and forth on his hands and knees.

"Still not walking huh?" Margaret sat on the couch next to where Douglas was standing and she lifted TJ onto her lap, "You can't crawl around fore the rest of your life. Though I suppose if your dad becomes the president he could just hire people to carry you." The boys stared up at her blankly and she laughed.

"Alright, you two play in here," she placed TJ in the playpen and then lifted Douglas in next to him. "I'm going to get you boys some juice, don't climb out of there while I'm gone." She walked out of the room and into the kitchen, pouring a small amount of watered down juice into two bottles. She walked back into the room where Douglas was standing in the playpen, holding onto the side.

Margaret smiled at the sight. Ever since Douglas had taken those first steps he took every opportunity to stand up and move around. She handed him his bottle and then went to do the same with TJ who was sitting next to his brother. However, before she could hand it to him, TJ decided to take matter into his own hands. Margaret watched in amazement as TJ rocked on his hands and knees for a moment before leaning his hands against the side of the playpen. He slowly pushed himself up until he was holding onto the side. Margaret stared in shock for a moment, totally forgetting the reason he had stood until TJ made an indignant noise and reached for the bottle.

"Oh! Right!" She handed it to him and as soon as he had it in his hands he flopped back and sat on the floor of the playpen.

"Well alright then," Margaret said, "So apparently all it took to get you standing was taking too long to give you juice." She shook her head in amusement as TJ just stared at her while he drank from her bottle.

Several hours later, at six o'clock, there was a knock on the door. It opened and Elaine and Bud stood on the other side.

"You're back early," Margaret said, "We weren't expecting you for at least another couple hours."

"Things were boring from the moment we got there," Bud said, "This was the earliest we could sneak out."

"And how was your day?" Elaine asked, "The boys weren't too much trouble?"

"Actually..." Margaret said, stepping aside so Elaine and Bud could fully see the room. Douglas was sitting on the ground in his pyjamas playing while TJ sat next to him. When he saw his parents, Douglas stood and stumbled over to them. Bud smiled and leaned down to pick him up while TJ stared at them for a moment. He slowly pushed himself up and took a few tentative steps forward.

"When did that happen?" Elaine asked, watching in amazement as her almost-one-year-old son took another few steps.

"He stood up in the playpen just after you left and then later on he started trying to walk," Margaret said. Elaine bent down and TJ stumbled into her arms.

"Knew you could do it son," Bud said, smiling proudly, "Of course, now it'll be even harder to keep an eye on them." The three adults laughed while TJ and Douglas stared up at her, neither of them knowing what had their parents and grandmother so happy.

**Hope you enjoyed part two! If you have any suggestions for things you would like to see let me know! Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought!**


	3. First Night in the White House

First Night in the White House

**Note: I don't think it ever says in the show how old Douglas and TJ were when Bud became president. However after a lot of Googling and some math, I figured the boys were 10-11 when Bud was sworn in. So that's how old they are here.**

**Note: A Guest reviewer was very nice and pointed out that in the fourth episode Bud is talking to TJ while TJ's in the hospital and he mentions his first year in the White House and he says the boys were eight. So I figure when he was first sworn in he was 7-8 so things have been changed accordingly. Thank you Guest!**

"What d'you think boys?" Bud said to his seven year old sons.

"That was so cool," Douglas said wide-eyed.

"Yeah, but I don't understand why there's so many people and cameras," TJ said "Like, I get that it's a big deal and all, but why?"

"This is a historic moment," Elaine explained "The swearing in of a new president is important. It means new things for the whole country." TJ nodded still looking a little perplexed and Elaine smiled at him brushing a few stray hairs off his forehead.

"Now, I know it's been a very exciting day, but I think it's time you two went to bed" Elaine said and the boys groaned.

"But I'm not tired," TJ said just as Douglas yawned. Elaine smirked as TJ threw his brother a murderous look. "Traitor."

"Come on," Elaine laughed, "Say goodnight to your father." The boys went over and hugged Bud tightly.

"Night dad" they coursed.

"Night bud," he smiled at them as they walked out of the room with their mother.

"Where are we going?" Douglas asked as they followed their mother through the halls.

"To your new rooms," Elaine said "I know you haven't seen them yet, but I really think you're going to like them."

"Wait," TJ said, "We're staying here? Permanently?"

"Yes, I thought you knew that," Elaine said gently, "We lived in the governor's mansion when your father was governor. Now he's the president."

"Yeah I know" TJ said "But we've lived forever. I just thought we'd keep living there and dad would just work here."

"Oh, no sweetheart," Elaine said, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew, we're all living here now."

"Oh... okay," TJ nodded and looked up at his mother, "It's okay mom really."

"Well, I do think you'll like your rooms," she said, taking his hand and then Douglas's.

"This room is your Dougie" she pointed to one door, "And this is TJ's room." She pointed to the door next to Douglas's. "Well go on, have a look." The boys walked forward and opened the doors. Most of their possessions were already inside, though most were still in boxes.

"Figured you boys would like to decorate yourself," Elaine said, "We can get started on that tomorrow." The boys looked around their rooms some more before Douglas smiled and walked over to hug his mother.

"It's great mom thanks," he said.

"You're welcome sweetheart," she replied, "What do you think TJ?"

"Yeah, it's great," he said absently then looked at her, "Thanks mom."

"Alright," she nodded happily "Why don't you boys head to bed, okay? You can unpack tomorrow."

"Okay, night mom," they said as she walked away and they closed their doors.

It was several hours later and TJ was lying awake in his new bed. This was stupid, it was just a room and he couldn't sleep. Why couldn't he sleep? He was just about to get up and attempt to find the kitchen so he could get some water when there was a knock on the door. It opened slightly and his brother peaked in.

"TJ? You awake?" Douglas whispered.

"Yeah," TJ replied, "What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see if you were asleep," Douglas said.

"You came to see if I was asleep at two in the morning?" TJ asked and Douglas shifted, "You don't like you room either, huh?"

"It's just different," Douglas said, sitting on the edge of TJ's bed, "We just need to get used to."

"I don't want to get used to it!" TJ exclaimed suddenly, "I don't understand why we have to live here just cause dad's president now! Why can't we just keep living in the governor's mansion?"

"Well, cause now that dad's president they'll need a new governor," Douglas said, "And who that is will need to live there."

"It's not fair," TJ said. He knew he sounded childish, but he didn't care. He didn't want to live here; he didn't want a new room! He wanted his old room, the one he'd been in since he was a kid that he shared with his brother!

Douglas looked thoughtful for a moment before he stood up, "Move over."

"What?" TJ looked at him, confused.

"Move over" Douglas repeated. TJ did so and his brother slid into the bed next to him.

"Tomorrow we'll ask mom if we can share a room," Douglas said, "Now go to sleep." TJ stared at his brother for a moment before he lied down and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Elaine went to wake up her two sons. She opened the door to TJ's room and was surprised to see both boys there. She laughed quietly just as her husband walked by.

"Everything alright Sugar?" Bud asked.

"Everything's fine, she nodded and motioned for him to come over. Bud peaked his head into the room and laughed.

"Looks like we're gonna have to move them into a room together," he said, smiling at the sight of his two boys.

**Alright, so I wasn't too crazy about this one. It definitely took on a different route than I was originally thinking, but I hope you liked it nonetheless. Thanks for reading!**


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